Locally owned and operated, the Law Offices of Sand Gibbs LLP has been serving the Philadelphia and surban county areas for nearly 50 years. Our attorneys are ready to provide you with courteous and professional service. Learn more about each of our attorneys below, and then contact us for an appointment.

Margery S. Preddy is a partner whose primary areas of practice are estate planning, estate administration, and elder law. Ms. Preddy has been practicing law in Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Philadelphia Counties for over 30 years. She is a member of the Delaware County Bar Association, the Delaware County Elder Law Committee, the Delaware County Orphans’ Court Committee, and the Delaware County Estate Planning Council.

Margery graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 with a BA degree in Sociology and Spanish. She received her Juris Doctorate from Temple Law School, graduating in 1979. After graduation, she joined the Corporate Law Department of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) where she handled various corporate contract, and employment litigation matters.

In 1988, she joined the Sand Gibbs Law Firm, adding her own unique skill set to that of one of the most well-established and well-regarded firms in the region. Over the course of her subsequent professional career, Margery gained prominence as an exceptionally qualified estate planning and administration attorney.

Margery remains dedicated to counseling clients on difficult and complex family inheritance matters including issues involving elder law and real estate.

She has lectured and conducted seminars in her field of expertise. She emphasizes the importance of having wills and powers of attorney for financial matters and health care issues. She feels very strongly that clients should be educated regarding the law as it deals with Pennsylvania inheritance taxes, federal estate taxes, guardianships, Pennsylvania probate procedures, trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents. Therefore, she takes the time necessary to discuss with clients the intricate web of issues relating to family and inheritance matters.

Sometimes, the various estate and family inheritance matters result in an inherent conflict of issues for the family to resolve. Margery assists families in focusing in on the most important goals since, frequently, solving one problem inevitably creates another. There are always tradeoffs in estate planning and inheritance matters and Margery will help clients and their families wade through the somewhat complex and confusing issues related to taxes, trusts, nursing home concerns, probate costs, difficult family members, and the like.

Margery Preddy is a compassionate and caring attorney with unparalleled knowledge of the law and of both the broad and the intricate strategies that may be employed in estate planning and administration.

Let her put her skills and her insights to work for you to create an estate plan or to administer an estate in a manner that is perfectly tailored to meet your desires and your needs. Regardless of the size of the estate or the extent or nature of assets to be considered, and no matter how sophisticated or simple the estate plan, Margery will efficiently assist you in effecting the best possible solutions.

David M. Smilk graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton School with a B.S. Degree in Finance. He continued to pursue his career at Temple Law School, and has specialized in estate administration and estate planning since graduation.

During his early law practice, he was elected President of the Young Lawyers section of the Delaware County Bar Association and served on the Board of Directors of the County Bar Association.

David Smilk was a frequent guest on the Russ Miller Saturday morning radio show, "Real Estate and Your Estate" which aired on WWDB-FM for 23 years.

David's years of experience at the top of his field have allowed him to develop highly effective strategies for serving his client's needs efficiently. His experience and insights have allowed him to develop and employ very valuable shortcuts to solve estate issues, often allowing clients to avoid more costly full "probate" administration. Such shortcut methods have saved many clients fees and time expended.

David's career has been devoted to always identifying and employing the best possible ways of getting the results his clients need and expect, to best serve his client's needs with efficiency and at the minimum possible expense. It is this ethic that has so consistently caused clients and the families and friends of clients to return to him again and again as a competent and capable attorney in whom they have absolute trust.

Persons planning their estate may prefer to "avoid probate," and Mr. Smilk is proficient in drafting documents to do so. He was one of the first attorneys in Pennsylvania to draft and execute the "Real Estate Deed of Trust". Subsequently, he testified at legislative hearings to repeal and clarify the real estate transfer tax that may have previously applied to such deeds.

David has lectured and conducted seminars on the impact of federal estate tax, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, revocable living trust, and powers of attorney, all of which affect individuals' future planning.

Interestingly, David Smilk was requested to serve on the Delaware County Medical Society Public Health Fund as its secretary, and has done so since 1990.

Mr. Smilk's years of experience, and his truly first-rate standing in the local and regional legal communities, make him a truly venerable voice in his area of legal specialty.

Jeffrey M. Sherman, Esquire, has been a member of the Delaware County Bar since 1968. Mr. Sherman is a local resident who graduated from Upper Darby High School. He attended Antioch University where he participated in their work-study curriculum, giving him the opportunity to experience the work world in many different job areas and geographic locations. He then attended Villanova University School of Law under scholarship where he obtained his Juris Doctorate Degree.

When admitted to the Delaware County Bar, he practiced as an attorney with a firm, as an associate, as a partner in a firm, and as a sole practitioner until finally joining Sand, Gibbs, Marcu, Smilk & Sherman, the predecessor to The Law Offices of Sand Gibbs, LLC, in 1996.

Throughout the years Mr. Sherman has experienced all aspects of the law. He contributed his time to the Public Defender's Office on a part-time basis doing criminal defense work. As a private attorney, he handled many criminal cases including three murder cases resulting in defense verdicts in all cases.

Mr. Sherman's practice has concentrated in the civil law area over the last 25 years. His significant experience and expertise extends to real estate (leasing, buying, selling, tax assessments, and litigation), contract law (business and corporate, including set up of partnerships, corporations, LLC, and LLP entities), family law (prenuptial agreements, post-nuptial agreements, divorce, support, custody, equitable distribution, and adoption), and personal injury (settlement, mediations, and litigation).

In addition to the practice of law over the years, Mr. Sherman has participated in numerous non-law-related activities including but not limited to civic association membership and president, religious organization board participation, national college curriculum board member, numerous club memberships, boards and presidencies, including dog breeding and obedience training organizations, as well as municipality elected auditor and township council member.

Jeff is a straight-talking, sharp-minded and very assertive legal force in advancing and protecting his clients' rights and interests. His legal experience and knowledge of the law are both broad and very deep, marking him as a true authority in each of his fields of practice.

In addition to his complete mastery of the law, Jeff is admired for his ability to be extremely personable with his clients while preserving his reputation as a "no-nonsense" attorney among his peers and legal adversaries. These features have combined to afford Mr. Sherman his well-deserved position of very high regard in the local and regional legal communities, for a span of time now approaching a fourth decade.

Mr. Sherman's reputation as an extremely effective and efficient attorney in getting things done for his clients only continues to grow.

Anne has been practicing family and estate law and trying cases in court in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties for over 30 years. She is a member of several bar associations, committees, and professional associations.

Anne is well qualified in all areas of family law, including: divorce, mediation, custody, support, and premarital and post-marital agreements; and all areas of estate law, including: Medicaid planning, powers of attorney, wills and trusts, and estate administration.

Because Anne has practiced both family and estate law for over 30 years, she is exceptionally qualified to address issues which may arise across both areas, such as property and separation agreements, premarital and post-marital agreements, preparation of wills and other estate planning documents (which become necessary during the course of separation or divorce), negotiating the maintenance of life and health insurance policies, and other issues, which other attorneys — who only practice in either family or estate law — may not be competent to address. Because of her experience, she is well equipped to advise and serve clients to protect their futures during separation, after divorce, and when entering new relationships.

Anne also advises clients in the areas of injury, DUI, and real estate. She has a network of excellent attorneys, which she has developed over the years, with whom she works regularly and to whom she can refer you for virtually any legal problem.

Anne received her B.A. from St. Joseph's University, and graduated Cum Laude in 1982. She received her Juris Doctorate from Dickinson School of Law, graduating with honors in 1985. She was a member and editor of Law Review.